Vehicle-hub



(No Model.)

1V[.'B. MAHURIN.

VEHICLE HUB.

No. 369,538. PatentedSept. 6, 1887.

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MELVILLE B. MAHURIN, OF LIMA, OHIO.

VEHICLE-HUB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 869,538, dated September 6, 1387. Application filed October 8, 1886. Serial No. $5,647. (N0 model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MELVILLE B. M AHURIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of L1n1a,in the county ofAllen and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a vehiclewheel possessing great strength within moderate dimensions and combining the ad vantages of. the old-fashioned mortised wooden hub and the flanged metallic hub. To this end I combine a wooden hub-center and a reenforced shell-band slipped thereon, as hereinafter described. In carrying out myinvention I make a hub-center of wood and form therein dovetail or inwardly-flaring staggered mortises. To facilitate the undercutting or dovetailing of the said spoke-mortises I cut them in the wooden hub-center before applying the metallic shell thereto. This done, I slip or press over the mortised wooden huboenter a shell-band of metal for-med with stagcorresponding with those in the hub-center. This mortised shell-band abuts against a bead, which is turned on the exterior of the hub-center outside the spokemortises for the purpose. A great advantage of this mode of abutting the end of the shell band against a bead on the wooden hub-center consists in the fact that said bead effectually conceals the joint between the end of the metallic shell-band and the wood, and when the finished hub is properly painted the greater thickness of paint within the crease and the presence of the bead itself effectually prevent any visible crack in the paint by the unavoidable expansion and contraction of the metallic shell-band under changes of temperature.

In order to afford a better and more extended support to the spokes,the shell-band is formed with an encircling re-enforce fillet or enlargement, either made in one piece with the said metallic shell-band or separately, and just wide enough for the formation within it of staggered spoke-mortises corresponding with those in the wooden hub-center over which the metallic shell-band fits. The walls of the mor tises in the shell-baud are doubly beveled, as shown in the drawings hereinafter described, so as to have the effect of compressing the necks of the spokes in the act of driving them;

'tudi'nal section of the same.

or, if preferred, the spokes are compressed at this point before driving,t0 adapt them to slip into and expand tightly within the doublybeveled mortises in the metallic shell-band, and to adapt the spokes to be inserted through the mortises in the shelLband and to expand and fit within the dovetail or undercut mortises in the wooden hubcenter the ends of the I spoke-blanks are compressed edgewise and sidewiseespecially the former-and subse quently tenoned. As the dovetail mortises require an increasing expansion of the spoke tenons toward the ends, the compression is applied to the greatest degree at the extremities, and decreases gradually toward the neck or base of the tenon. Less liability of breaking or injuring the fibers occurs by compressing the spokes in the blank before tenoning. The spokes having been suitably tenoned are treated with warm glue, and the mortised hubcenter having been moistened with warm water to cause its expansion the spokes are driven in and their tenons subsequently expand and fit tightly within the dovetail mortises prepared for them, the tench-shoulders being seated in the wooden hub center entirely within the metallic shell, in accordance with the preferred plan in the best shell-band wheels.

A further important advantage in compressing the spoke-tenons, especially at the ends, consists in the condensation and hardness thereby imparted to the wood, adapting it to resist the severe lateral strain to which the spokes are subjected in use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse section of one-half of the hub with the spokes broken off. Fig. 2 is a longi- Fig. 3 is a longi tudinal section of the shellband.

A represents the metallic shell-band; A, the mortises therein; B, the wooden hub-center; B, the longitudinal opening therein to receive the axle-box; C, the wallsbetween the mortises in the shell-band; D, the walls between the mortises in the wooden hub-center; E, the shoulders on which thespokes are seated within the wooden hub-center; F, the spokes; G, the

compressed necks of the spokes fitting within the doubly-beveled walls of the shell-band mor tises; H, the spoke-tenons; K, the expanded ends of the tenons fitting the dovetail mor tises in the wooden hub-center; M, the re enforce band on the shell-band, and R the bead on the hub-center against which the metallic shell-band abuts.

The construction and operation of my device are as follows: To secure a metallic shell covering for a wooden hub of sufficient thickness to support the spoke and secure the necessary length of spoke-tenon after boring out the center of the hub for the box or axle I make the shell of ordinary thickness where it covers the projecting ends of the hub; but in the center where the spokes pass through I re-enforce it by adding a second shell or by making the shell of sufficient thickness to form a solid and efficient support for the spoke, adding the extra thickness on the outside of the shell in sufficient amount to allow the center of the hub to be cut out to admit the size of boxing desired without weakening the spoke. To secure the strongest wheel it is essential that the length of the spoke-tenon be greater than its width. With my additional shell added on the outside for the purpose of giving additional support to the spoke a larger axle can be used and the required length of tenon secured. I also construct the metallic bars forming the sides of the mortises in the re-enforced shell diamond-shaped, or with enlargements and contractions in cross-section, for the purpose of preventing the compressed and expanded spoke from being withdrawn from or getting loosein the mortise, as will be shown. Besides re-enforcing the shell and forming the walls ofshape described, I taper the edge walls of the mortises in my hub proper, contracting the mortises edgewise as they approach the outside surface of the hub, as shown in Fig. 3. It will thus be seen that the opening through the shell into the mortise has a contracted part, below which it is enlarged to allow of expansion of the spoke sidewise, and that the bottoms of the mortises in the hub are enlarged to allow of the expansion of the spoke edgewise.

The parts ofthe spoke that fit in the enlargements at the bottom of the mortises in the hub must be small enough on their sides to pass the contracted parts of the shell-bars and small enough on their edges to pass through the narrowest part ofthe mortises in the hubs-t. a, the tops of the mortises. It will thus be seen that. being small enough to pass these points there will be a wedge-shaped space between the sides and edges of the spokes and the walls of the mortises at the bottom. To utilize this space- I first compress the partially-formed tenon of the spokeblank with great force, especially edgewise and to an increasing degree toward the end, and then dress the tenon edgewise and sidewise, so that it will slip past or can be driven past the narrowest points in the walls. I then insert the end of the spoke in the mortises in the shell and drive it down to its place. The lower end of the spoke, as it is driven home, expands to its natural size,overcoming the compression it has undergone until it fits snugly and firmly against the walls of the mortises,forming a perfect wedge both sidewise and edgewise, preventing the removal of the spoke again as a whole. The warm moist glue applied to the spoke also facilitates this expansion of the compressed end of the spoke; and to further facilitate the expansion and insure the return of the fiber to its normal condition I moisten the sides of the walls of the mortises with warm water, which readily swells the ends of the spokes until they fill the recess or enlargements left for them.

What I claim is 1. The metallic shell-band constructed, as herein described, with a smooth interior surface and with doubly-beveled mortises flaring inward and outward, as shown, for the purposes set forth.

2. The hub herein described, consisting of a mortised wooden center or body, and a metallic shell-band surrounding said body having a smooth inner surface without internal projections, and an external re-enforcing band or circumferential rib containing doubly-beveled mortises corresponding in position with those in the wooden hub-body.

3. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination of a wooden hub-center, a metallic shell-band having a smooth interior surface, and an externally: projecting re-enforce band or circumferential rib with doubly-beveled mortises and spokes compressed within said doubly-beveled mortises in the process of insertion, as explained.

4.. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination of the wooden hub-center, a metallic shell-band surrounding the same having a smooth interior surface and an externally-projecting re-enforce band, doubly-beveled mortises in said re-enforce band, and compressed spokes seated on shoulders in the wooden hub-body some distance within the metallic shell, as herein shown and described.

5. The spokes F, having tenons H, compressed edgewise to expand within corresponding longitudinal dovetails in the mortises of the wooden hub-center, as explained.

6. The wooden hub-center B, having the bead R, in combination with the shell-band A, abutting against said bead R, as and for the purposes set forth.

MELVILLE B. MAHURIN.

Witnesses J. M. CAMPBELL, G. H. Fnonv.

ICO

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